1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rotating cylindrical treatment apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for supplying, in the form of a suitable shape such as a sheet-like shape or the like, a material to be heated or cooled such as synthetic resin, smashed fish, smashed meat or the like and pressing the sheet-like material against a heated or cooled surface of a rotating cylindrical body to treat it.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A rotating cylindrical treatment apparatus of this type is known in the art, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 225882/1987 and generally constructed in such a manner as shown in FIG. 4. More particularly, the conventional rotating cylindrical treatment apparatus generally includes a cylindrical body 1 of which a revolving axis is orientated in a horizontal direction, a heating or cooling mechanism 2 provided in the cylindrical body 1, a feed section 3 for feeding a material 4 to be treated (hereinafter referred to as "treated material") which is positioned above the cylindrical body 1, a pressure roller 5 for pressing the treated material 4 fed to the cylindrical body 1 against the cylindrical body to roll it, an endless belt 6 for conveying the treated material 4 while keeping it pressed upon the cylindrical body 6, and a crusher 7 for crushing the treated material 4 separated from the cylindrical body 1. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 8 designates a spray nozzle provided at a feed pipe 9 for spraying an inner surface of the cylindrical body 1 with a gas-liquid mixture comprising pressurized air and a heating or cooling medium for heating or cooling the cylindrical body 1.
The conventional rotating cylindrical treatment apparatus constructed as described above has a disadvantage in that the endless belt 6 tends to shift or deviate in an axial direction of guide or support rollers around which it is passed, to thereby cause the treated material to deviate from a material carrying position predetermined on the cylindrical body 1, resulting in a part of the treated material being relatively dislocated from the endless belt 6. Also, the conventional apparatus exhibits a further disadvantage of causing the endless belt 6 to be contacted with various components arranged on both sides of the cylindrical body 1, leading to damage of the endless belt. In order to avoid the above problems, the conventional rotating cylindrical treatment apparatus adopted an approach in which the operation of the apparatus is visually monitored, so that the operation is stopped to correct a deviation of the endless belt upon the observation of the start of the deviation. Thus, the conventional apparatus does not provide for a continuous running with a high reliability.
In addition, in the conventional rotating cylindrical treatment apparatus, the cylindrical body 1 comprises only a hollow cylindrical plate member opened at both side ends and end plates arranged to close both ends of the cylindrical plate member and is free of any rib structure for reinforcing the cylindrical plate member. This is because the cylindrical body of the conventional rotating cylindrical treatment apparatus is relatively small in size, therefore, it is not required to provide a means for preventing deflection of the cylindrical body. Recently, a volume of the treated material 4 to be handled has been highly increased, so that it is required to form the cylindrical body 1 into a large size. Unfortunately, the cylindrical plate member of the cylindrical body is made of a metal sheet of a relatively small thickness, therefore, an increase in diameter and length of the cylindrical body fails to permit the cylindrical body to exhibit desired functions while permitting only both end plates to keep the cylindrical plate member properly cylindrical. Thus, the large-sizing of the cylindrical body requires the arrangement of a rib structure in the cylindrical plate member. However, in order to permit the cylindrical body to effectively exhibit a desired heating or cooling function, it is required to not only constantly introduce a cooling or heating medium into the cylindrical body but successively discharge it through an outlet port while keeping a predetermined amount of the medium stored in the lower portion of the, cylindrical body. Therefore, the arrangement of the rib structure in the cylindrical body blocks the flowing of the cooling or heating medium to the outlet port, to thereby cause the cylindrical body to be non-uniformly heated or cooled, leading to a failure in uniform cooling or heating of the treated material depending upon a position on the cylindrical body.